ASUUYA AND DHWESHA :
THE DEADLY VICES

Once a sage was cultivating a beautiful garden growing a variety of flowers
and fruits. Even in him egoism reared its head and in its wake jealousy also
took root. When these two were present, hatred also joined the evil brood.
Seeing this, the Lord, who felt that a sage wearing the
saffron robe and claiming to have renounced all attachments, should not
entertain such evil qualities,
entered the sage's garden in the guise of an old brahmana to reform the
sage. The Brahmana left and shortly thereafter a cow entered the garden and
caused havoc among the flower plants. Seeing this from a distance, the sage
hurled a big stick at the cow. The moment the stick hit the cow, the animal
died. The sage inwardly feared that he might be guilty of the sin of go-hathya
(cow slaughter). Meanwhile, the old Braahmana returned and, seeing the dead
cow, exclaimed: "What a pity! Who could have killed the poor cow?" The sage
replied: "It is all God's Will." The Brahmana revealed his true form and
said: "You
claim credit for all the good things, but when anything untoward happens you
attribute it to God. Your conceit is totally unbecoming.
I am not a Brahmana and I assumed this form only to remove from you the ego
that has taken root in you."

There are two bad
qualities which are particularly undesirable - Asuya(jealousy) and Dhwesha
(hatred).
Asuuya is like the pest which attacks the root of a tree. Dhwesha is like
the pest which attacks the branches, leaves and flowers. They two together
utterly destroys the tree eventhough it looks beautiful and flourishing.
Asuuya attacks a person from inside and is not visible whereas Dhwesha
exhibits itself in open forms. Everyone should strive to get rid himself of
egoism, jealousy and hatred which can be achieved by constant efforts like
cultivating love and dedication of all actions to God, but not mere study of
books. Total
elimination of jealousy is a primary requisite for the sadhaka (spiritual
aspirant) else, it will destroy every good quality in him/her.

The man filled with jealousy and hatred is like a blind man who cannot see
the sun however brightly he may shine. The man filled with
good qualities like Truth, Love, absence of jealousy, ego and hatred can see
God without searching for him.
He becomes a Jnani i.e., a man of spiritual wisdom. It has been said: Death
is sweeter than the blindness of ignorance. One must develop virtue of
enjoying at another's prosperity and happiness.
It is one of the teachings of the Bhagavathgeetha - "Oh Arjuna, be free from
the evil of jealousy. Become an Anasuuyaka (one who has no jealousy)."

Man had become a prey
to Ashanthi (peacelessness) because of jealousy.This evil
quality not only does harm to others but is also self-destructive. A
person free from jealousy can convert divinity itself into a little baby
which was illustrated by the story of Anasuya who turned Brahma, Vishnu and
Maheshwara into infants by the power of her chastity and purity. One can
even conquer the qualities of Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas (quality of purity,
passion and inertia) by freeing himself from the evil quality, Jealousy.

The meaning of self-realisation
can be grasped only when one's daily life is governed by the cultivation of
virtues and by the promotion of an environment conductive to spiritual
effort.
The Athma is not realised through shasthras. Realisation of self has to be
obtained only through one's own earnest sadhana(spiritual efforts). The Vedhas (ancient
sacred scriptures), Upanishaths, Shaasthras and Puraanas (ancient scriptures
of spiritual wisdom, metaphysical treatises and mythological legends) all
serve as sign-posts and they indicate the direction one should take. They
show the goal that should be sought but the journey has to be made by
ourselves.